ghosts of the past
by oum
Summary: gods can be graceful, and generous. After being given a new chance at life, Atem finally had the chance to live with anzu, his love. however modern egypt is in turmoil and has become very unstable due to disagreements and clashes, with the thief and mana involved .who will save this old and magnificient nation from the threat of human greed and misery ? AtemxAnzu ,TKBxOC
1. Chapter 1: prologue

_How did it come to this?... Egypt was such calm and peaceful country. At least this was what Atem thought. Until the Arab spring brought its wave of torment and hatred to the people of khemet. He was always a humanist; even when he was a pharaoh, he believed all humans are equals. There is no difference between him and the rest of his people. So when the Egyptians started their revolution he did understand that they wanted change even if he didn't agree with all the bloodshed it caused._

 _Watching the land he was born in and adored becoming so devastated made him feel really outraged, but then again what could he do? Maybe in his past life he was a powerful king, with a huge nation and a mighty army to protect it. But in this life he was only a normal citizen._

 _One year later the war broke up. Some terrorist organization wanted control all over Egypt and threatened the Copts, who still protected the heritage of their ancestors._

 _He couldn't let his family be in danger anymore; he had to protect his wife and daughter. The only place where they could be safe was in Japan with Yugi and the others. He was powerless against such a situation, not to mention he and his family could be targeted anytime soon, because the terrorists didn't stand anyone who was against them. No one was allowed to resist them._


	2. Chapter 2: the wrath

It wasn't a big deal...it wasn't that much of a deal for Kanna when she left Japan with her family and friends, and joined a battle she wasn't supposed to fight, after all she was a normal 16 years old teenager with two parents, a caring father who was very keen on games and a loving mother who was very devoted to her family and daughter. Her father always taught her to think wisely, and to keep being hopeful no matter the situation. Here in Egypt; her father's homeland, things were not that bright and didn't leave much room for hope in people's minds and hearts. Despite being the daughter of a former king and a strong-willed woman, she suddenly felt herself very confused and didn't know who to trust anymore. The Copts were the descendant of the ancient Egyptians and were the legitimate owners of this great land; however they were treated poorly by their extremist Egyptian peers, whose sole motivations were anger and hatred. So, naively, and out of pride and compassion she joined their cause, a group of young militants have taken arms and decided to defend their people.

She was very surprised at first to be a member of many individuals who believed in equality between men and women, in freedom and in justice. Especially that their beliefs didn't reflect the harsh reality they faced every day, in a country that was torn by religious and political uprising. Solidarity and unity held no more meaning to the people of Ekyptos . Despite her mixed heritage, Kanna didn't forget her duty of protecting her people from persecution. She was delighted when she met her first friend; Mana who knew her father very well, was a very lightheaded girl who didn't give up that easily, no matter what. Later she discovered that both of them shared a common ideology; they both believed in justice and equality between mankind.

When Mana first told her about magic, her instinctive reaction was to think she was joking, after all, in a world where science always had the last word, Mystical powers were not something she believed in. But later her friend has shown her the proof that magic existed, to her great interest of course.

Magic was very fascinating; it captivated her inner child's intention. She suddenly found herself wondering if magic could bring peace to this devastated nation. And extinguish the flames of hatred and anger.


	3. Chapter 3:

Running, always running. And walking for hours without rest; that was their training for the first two months. Back in Japan, girls found a lot of trouble running a short distance. Kanna found this to be somewhat ridiculous, but she understood them. After all, her mom was a talented dancer and she gave her some dance lessons when she was little. Indeed, she was luckier than the other girls in her class.

"Does _ouji_ know where you are ?" this question from Mana came in such a worried tone.

"No.." was her cold straight answer.

Her parents didn't know where she was. After she made her mind, she left home for Egypt. Without leaving any trace behind her. After she took the plane and was welcomed at arrival by the Ishtar siblings; friends of her parents that knew her ever since she was a child.

" _Please do not tell my parents ,I don't want them to worry about me."She pleaded._

" _Why? Are they ignorant of your current location?" asked Ishizu._

" _They are not going to understand why I am here."_

 _A heavy silence hung in the room as she gave them her last answer._

She has met a lot of interesting persons. Some of them shared her views, some not. But most of the time she was always kept to herself and didn't engage in discussions with other volunteers.

But then some fighters were not that talkative too. One of them is Akefia, his appearance was very unique; he had grayish white hair, lavender eyes and a tanned complexion and a large scar on his face. His personality on the other hand was a great mystery to her; he was cold and distant for no apparent reason. Although she wasn't the type of people to mind other people's businesses she noticed that there was something unusual about this man. Maybe he had bad experiences in the past that made him that way. But then again who was she to dig into him?

She was thankful to Mana for always cheering everyone and relieving the gloomy and heavy atmosphere of war and death. Her friend tried to be as much supportive as possible.

She couldn't sleep one night as she remembered the reason for her being in war. She wanted to be useful in her life and protect Egyptian Christians from being slaughtered in masses by the extremists that were attacking their country. She became even more nervous as she hard the call for prayer; Adan _of_ the _fajr_ prayer (prayer of the morning) as the Muslims call it. It was the beginning of the day she will be finally allowed to hold a weapon. Even if the idea of killing another human being chilled her to the bones.

Mana was only pretending to sleep too, as she opened her eyes she noticed the girl that lied next to her who staring at the ceiling of the tent. She decided to talk to her.

"Are you asleep?" she asked out of curiosity.

"I couldn't sleep, I can't help thinking of many things…" those last words came from her mouth as a gentle whisper.

"You know, you can tell me everything. I'm a good friend of both your father and mother. In our past lives we used to play altogether; even if he was a prince and I was just the daughter of two peasants."

"I remember when I was a little girl, baba used to tell me enchanting stories about how he was a king in his past life that everybody in his country loved and worshipped."

This dialogue triggered nostalgia in Kanna, She recalled how she viewed her dad to be a hero in her childhood. But as she grew up, she discovered the history of pharaohs, and how they had many slaves and servants. She came later to the conclusion that her father wasn't that much of a saint after all but nevertheless she still respected him for being a humanist at heart.

"Were you and dad always that close?" she asked.

"Yes we grew up together, and we both learned magic from a very young age"

Mana's answers seemed to be enough to convince the half Egyptian girl that her father wasn't a regular king. He might had had numerous servants and slaves. But she couldn't really blame him for that, he wasn't the one who created slavery, nor was he fond of it.

"Tell me Mana why did you volunteer to fight in our ranks?" this question always filled her head since she first encountered the girl.

"I wanted to take revenge for my people, they are persecuted in their own land and the land of their ancestors; maybe I am not a Christian, Maybe I have known another time period but that doesn't keep me for feeling compassion for them."

"Fair enough." Replied the short haired girl."I can relate to you as well, I suppose I'm vindictive too, I too want to destroy those barbarians and avenge the people of my father."


	4. Chapter 4:

Days have gone since her arrival in the desert outskirts of Egypt. Their daily training was unbearable under the heat and the burning sun of khemet, they were youngsters who had to learn how to cope with the harsh environment of the desert; they had to learn how to hold weapons carefully and shoot their enemies. They were not allowed to give up, even if they were severely wounded and on the verge of death.

Her first weapon was heavy and had a powerful smell of death and nothingness in it. Kanna was unsure if she ever will be able to shoot anyone in her life. The idea of taking someone's life made her blood froze and hands shake in fear.

Back in Japan she used to like sport a lot even if she wasn't the most athletic student in her class. It wasn't really the moves or victory that was interesting to her, no…what she liked before anything else was the spirit of competition; the feeling of being a part of a wholesome community made her feel complete and safe. Even if she didn't really share her father's passion for intellectual games she still liked to test her abilities in her own ways.

Sometimes in life loss didn't only affect Man's pride and ego, in her case loss can come at a massive price: her own life. She admired Mana for always being optimistic in such a stressful situation. They could be attacked by terrorists any time and yet the blue-eyed brunette still found a way to enjoy life, her mind clean of all negative thoughts.

Mana liked to chat and laugh a lot with their comrades, even if she lightly understood arabic, Not all of them were nice people. Some of them thought fighting in a war was a heroic act worthy of attention and admiration from their peers...they were what she would call extreme narcissists. And of course Akefia was one of them; Kanna found him to be very annoying with an irritating self-confidence. He always tried to surpass everyone in the training camp, in other words he was some kind of leader, _a king_ in his own definition.

Later that day, as she was holding two cups of tea. The idea of melting the ice between her and the white-haired man came to her mind. So she decided to give him a cup and hoped to start what could be called a "dialogue" with him. Maybe the young man was just misunderstood after all.

"Hello…" she said in such a wary tone.

The young just gave her a silent stare without giving the girl the courtesy of returning her salutation and continued smoking his cigarette.

"You could at least have the politeness of responding back. I have two cups of tea and I was wondering that maybe sharing one with someone wouldn't be a bad idea."

"I have no attention of getting involved with some girl I don't know. If you really wanted to drink with anyone why did you have to pick me of all the _idiots_ here?" Sarcasm and arrogance were clearly emanating from his answer.

Despite the crystal-clear rejection from his response Kanna was determined to keep trying.

"I thought that this the occasion to learn about each others, And to be honest I felt that we might have something in common, since we don't have many friends…"

"So you are saying that you felt sorry for me… _the poor outcast_ , right?"

This time the brown-haired girl didn't know how to react; she never meant to offend him. But deep down his reaction wasn't that much of a surprise to her, for some reason Mana warned her and advised her to stay away from the tanned man, and now she could see why...

"Listen _girl_ , if you are going to lecture me on the importance of solidarity you'd better keep your speeches to yourself. I don't take lessons from anyone, and besides, if we truly become friends I'm going to teach you many things I know too, some of which you won't like…" His answer was cold and distant.

He threw his cigarette away and walked past her. Never in her life had she been spoken to in such an impropriate way; had he treated her as she was nothing. Just a naïve woman who didn't know any better than he does. At heart she feared that there was some truth in his words. He was older than her and had probably many experiences in the past, she was just an adolescent girl who had led a normal life until know.


	5. Chapter 5

Screams were heard from a long distance as Mana woke up; she felt very scared and confused. It took her a while after she realized they were under attack. Everyone was running hysterically. Suddenly her black tank became wet with sweat, contrasting with the cold blood running in her veins.

Without much thinking she hid with a group of female fighters inside a desert cave, carrying her weapon with her. In her other life she relied too much on magic and her wand, so her hand didn't really become stained by blood. But in this life she had only regular means to defend herself; something that resembled a strange wand that shoots fire and made people bleed to death.

She couldn't understand why she was here, in this time, in this era, _in this war_. She was supposed to be dead-3000 years ago- and finally be allowed to rest… But no! The gods had some twisted plan; to send her to the living world along with the tomb robber, _the thief king_ , for an unknown reason.

* * *

She remember being in paradise; her resting place. And then after taking a nap in the garden of the palace she woke up in some strange ruins, in the deserts. At first she didn't comprehend where she was only to find out later that her location was in Egypt, thousands of years after the era she lived in. Luckily for her she had been found by a group of western tourists, who were struck by her dressing and words.

Sometime later she was taken to the police who investigated her case and took her to the Ishtar family, who have suggested taking her in. And to be honest, she felt in security with them, since they spoke the same language as her. She told them her story and they believed her.

She learned Arabic and had been given a job in the museum by Ishizu, whom she was very grateful too. Following a month, she learned about Atem's location and his life with Anzu; the woman who he claimed to love. They had a child together, a girl, _Kanna_. She was very happy for her the prince, he really deserved to live a peaceful life after everything he went through in both life and death.

Kemet sure has changed; it became a very different land over the centuries. She suddenly felt like a stranger in her own country, like she no longer belonged here. But still, they were things that reminded her of her time.

* * *

Two years later the war broke out, the UN officially declared civil war in Egypt. The indigenous Egyptians were hunted down by their Muslim extremist peers. They were killed, burned, crucified and even _raped_. A huge part of her couldn't stand what happened to them. She refused to let them vanish just because they were unlucky to be the small minority of a large nation. Beside being humans who deserved life, they were also the only thing left in this place that protected the heritage of the pharaohs and their glorious civilization. So it only made sense she felt a strong connection to them.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" asked the eldest Ishtar woman with her sad ,deep voice.

The brunette nodded. She had no reason to give up now. Not after all the dangers she faced before in her old life. She was accustomed to death and loss, in the battle that opposed that blasted demon to the royal court, she had lost many friends including the pharaoh.

"This is the only thing I can do for you and for _him_ " she said, referring to her beloved master and teacher.

"Alright then" replied Malik, who didn't really support her decision either." But stay safe Mana".

She didn't really hope for their support, but nevertheless they understood and that was largely enough to her. She gave them a faint smile promising them to look after herself.

The Ishtars treated her as she was a member of their family, and not just the pharaoh's old friend, and she surely reciprocated their feelings.

* * *

Back in the present, gunshots sounds were heard and blood pouring from both side with abundance. She stayed in the hideout with her two female comrades. She always tried to think positively no matter how much the situation seemed desperate and hopeless.

"sme'ti da" _did you hear that_ , asked one of the three women in hurried Arabic.

"ah hed ka'dim" _somebody is coming_ , answered the other girl , panic raising in her voice.

Mana's hands started to grip her rifle as she heard loud footsteps near the cave. She unsure if she could survive this, especially since she was a woman, she risked much more than a man. She could be raped and murdered. Fear rose within her as a group of men stood in the entry of their hideout, faces hidden by the darkness.


	6. Chapter 6

Life hadn't been easy for Anzu, especially these days. After Malik told her her daughter's situation. Kanna was in warzone surrounded by hundred of barbaric terrorist. She fainted right after hearing the horrific news from her Egyptian friend. It was truly fortunate to have Atem around in this period, despite being as shocked as she was. He didn't show any weakness. And tried to comfort her and reassure her. He told her to keep being hopeful, that he will find a way to bring their daughter back home.

"It's my fault…" she told him.

"No it's not yours, not mine either" his answer seemed honest and heartwarming.

Words were out of reach for Anzu. Despite what her beloved said she still felt guilty for not stopping Kanna. Guilt was such a destructive emotion, the feeling of making a mistake and doing nothing to reappear it.

"We should go after her, If we don't hurry up who knows what might happen to her?" Said the brown-haired woman.

" **I** should go look for her, not you Anzu…" he replied, sure of himself. "She did this in order to prove something to me, I'm pretty sure of it; so I am partly responsible for this too."

"No Atem, you are not, you have always been a good father to her…"

At that moment, Atem sat in a chair, turning his gaze in a small picture that was in his hands, it featured a small brown-haired girl holding hands with her parent in a park, wearing a flowery dress. The innocent girl seemed shy and introverted, her purples eyes staring straight at anyone who looked at her depiction.

* * *

Few years after the young pharaoh came back from the land of the dead, he and Anzu got closer. They began a romantic relationship that ended up in marriage. In that moment he felt absolute happiness, he had everything he ever wanted and Anzu was happy too. But unfortunaly that didn't last for too long.

Anzu had a car accident that resulted in a broken leg. After the doctors told her she can never dance again she fell into a deep depression; her dream of becoming a famous dancer evaporated, she no longer felt she could do anything with her life. The feeling of the ultimate uselessness became more intense as she saw each of her high school friends doing something with his life and finding his place in society. Yugi became a professional duelist, Jounouchi became a police officer, and Honda found a job in a small factory. But her, no, she was a burden on them all. Yugi, jounouchi, Honda.. and especially Atem.

Atem was alone in his quest of supporting her and the household. Yugi's grandfather helped him find a job as an archeologist, which was very fitting for him. After all who could know better than him when it came to ancient Egypt, but with his frequent trips to his homeland, Anzu felt more alone than ever.

"I'm sorry" she told him one day.

"Don't be" he responded. "It's my duty as your husband, don't forget I supported a whole nation in the past" he said adding a bit of humor to his soothing words.

She considered ending her life more than once. In fact, if it wasn't for Atem, she would have committed suicide a long time ago. But then a miracle happened.

* * *

Anzu went to do an examination, suddenly she heard the most relieving news ever… _she was pregnant ._

"Congratulations Mrs Muto, do you want to know the gender of the baby?" asked the doctor.

She didn't respond. She couldn't believe her ears. Tears of joy started to fill her azure eyes as she fell on her knees, crying from happiness.

"Mrs Anzu is everything alright?" questioned the doctor, astonished but genuinely caring.

"Thank you god, thank you..." she said to herself while sobbing in the ground.

The strange sensation of having butterflies in the stomach didn't leave her as she walked back home. She lay on the couch and phoned Atem, who was on an exploration trip again, telling him about the news, they were going to have a child… a little girl.

"I am so happy right now, Anzu are you sure you don't need anything?" he said sounding truly overjoyed.

"No I am going to make it on my own" she tried to seem as much confident as possible.

As the days passed, she regained gradually the will to live, if not for her at least for the small being that was growing in her womb. She no longer felt alone when Atem was absent. She caressed her belly from time to time to feel the warmth of life. She was deeply grateful to god (or the gods) for giving her another chance.


	7. Chapter 7

_Mana's hands started to grip her rifle as she heard loud footsteps near the cave. She unsure if she could survive this, especially since she was a woman, she risked much more than a man. She could be raped and murdered. Fear rose within her as a group of men stood in the entry of their hideout, faces hidden by the darkness._

As if being in rock tunnel surrounded by insects and dirt wasn't bad enough, the three women were discovered by a group of unknown men.

"Get the hell out of here bitches!" yelled one of them.

"Do you want to get killed?" added another.

That voice was familiar to Mana, and the silhouette of the man it belonged too. It was akefia accompanied by some of their allies. She didn't know whether to feel relieved or not. After all the man tried to destroy the whole world in the past and almost succeeded.

"And how can we know we can trust you?" asked Mana, skeptical.

Akefia advanced toward her, looking at her straight in the eye.

"Well, if you don't there are high chances you'll be found by the terrorist fuckers, and you know exactly what they do to women, right" Akefia tried to sound as much threatening as possible.

He had a point, she and the other girls cannot stay in the cavity; they will be caught anytime soon and certainly be outnumbered by their enemies. Without complaining the three young females joined their male counterparts, all feeling secure except Mana. She didn't have faith in that blasted thief; he worked hand to hand with a dark god and caused the death of many of her friends. She will never forgive him for that.

As they arrived to their destination they went abroad an armored half-track, as one of her friends took the wheel and let the others stay in the back. Being stuck with the thief didn't make things easy for the magician girl. To her, he was no better that the murderers who have turned their peaceful country into a scenery of Doomsday.

Akefia wasn't so sure of what he was doing anymore, as much as he wanted to leave the pharaoh's **shitty** cheerleader suffer for all what happened to his village, He couldn't bring himself to do so. Most importantly he wouldn't be allowed to do such a thing to a _comrade_. Shit! He hated receiving orders from anyone. Things didn't much change in Egypt after all those years, dictatorship was still existent and poisoned people's life. And nobody was allowed to criticize the all-mighty president. That greedy man was worshipped the same way _that bastard_ was worshipped in ancient times.

Being part of a resistance group and being the lead in a gang of thieves in ancient Egypt didn't make much of difference to Akefia. Both had the same purpose; to rebel against oppression and tyranny. The sole difference is only a matter of perspective: in the past they were considered criminals and hated for stealing from the pharaoh and in the present they are seen as heroes to a group of people who approves of their methods.

They arrived to a small, dark green tent in the desert. As they entered it they found two men looking at a map, on a large wooden table where two candles were lighting the place. A middle aged man, Their superior, approached them.

"Well, tell me the situation in the field" asked the superior while adjusting his glasses.

"We were attacked by the enemy not so long ago. We lost fighters, and many were wounded" answered a man from the group. "We don't exactly their number". He continued.

"If it wasn't for Akefia and the guys, we would be dead now" interrupted a female fighter.

The corporal looked at Mana, expecting to hear the version in her own words but all she said was:

"…That's true, sir" she finished half-heartedly, gazing at the stone ground.

"Fine then, I suppose you owe these young men a lot" he paused for a minute "reinforcements are going to reach our location in few days. But in the mean time, hold on and remain strong"

"Yes sir !" they all said collectively, trying to put as much enthusiasm in their words as possible.

Except for Akefia, whose eyes shone with anger and disgust, disgust at himself for betraying his dead family and friends, and anger at the Gods who enjoyed toying with him. Making him save an enemy.

After being given the order to leave. The team of six people, went to sleep each on their own, men and women separated. It has been such a tiring day for Akefia, he was so exhausted he felt he could sleep for 3000 more years. As he walked to the direction where the men were heading, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned over to see if somebody was following him. But the outcome was even more confusing; it was Mana…

"I wanted to say…" she began, dark blue eyes looking directly at his own lavender ones "Thank you for rescuing us!"

He didn't know how to respond; it was the least thing he expected, especially from this person. He tried not to lose his composure in front of the dark-haired woman. He wanted to remain stoic; it wasn't as he saved her out of compassion for her and her dumb companions, all he did was to following orders.

"Whatever". He finally responded, trying to put her off.

But, from some reason it didn't have the desired effect, the young girl gave him a faint smile and walked away, joining her female companions leaving the former thief even more confused.


	8. Chapter 8

Being in a state of war was the most terrifying thing to know in a lifetime. Nevertheless, Kanna still managed to be strong until now. Gunshots were being heard everywhere, she and Mana have been separated and she didn't know what to expect from all of this.

" _I have to defend myself_ " she thought.

Even though she was only a beginner at the art of war, she had a mighty fighting spirit. She clutched her rifle and fired a few shots without causing injury to the opposite side. Everyone around her was being merciless to the enemy; whom they felt a strong hatred toward. Hatred for all the dead men, children and raped women. The terrorist were hiding behind huge, blood-stained rocks. Her amethyst eyes saw clearly all the cruelty they caused to their ranks and there is no way she could forgive them for that.

Memories of her childhood with her parents flashed before her eyes, she remembered all the happy moments she spent with her Egyptian father and Japanese mother. She lived for five years in Egypt after she was born in Japan with the insistence of Anzu. She was officially an Egyptian-Japanese citizen, she knew both Arabic and Japanese. Atem had always been a caring father, he used to teach her all kind of games he was good at, and he won no matter what. He was almost unbeatable in those mind games he loved to play with uncle Yugi, whom she loved very much. Every time he came home he and her father chatted about their passions and memories. Even as a child she noticed the powerful, platonic connection they had, they were closer than brothers and could understand each others' feelings without putting much words into it. As if their hearts and minds shared an unbreakable bond.

Her father's thoughts and emotions were a great riddle to her, sometimes Atem seemed cold and unreachable despite all the love and attention he had for her. Never had she doubted about the veracity of his fondness and affection. But she understood there were things he liked to keep to himself, but Kanna was a clever child. And she could sense the loneliness her father felt from time to time and the confusion it brought with it.

Later, when she became a teenager. Anzu revealed to her the unbelievable story behind her father's life and his real identity. At first, She thought her mother was playing some prank on her. But after she took her to the museum where was being held the piece of rock that had Atem's depiction craved into it. She had no choice but to take her mom's words into consideration. Being an archeologist, her dad told her very enchanting stories about Ancient Egypt with all its magical glory, but she could never phantom the real reason her dad was so attached to this nation.

"Mom, how could you feel love for a dead man?" she dared to ask.

"…Well, I suppose for a feeling as strong as love, it can transcend death and life" responded Anzu, not so sure of what to say. "Even if he shared the same body with your uncle Yugi, they were very different people and each had an independent personality."

It didn't take for her much time to figure out she wasn't really related to the Mutos, they only carried that name in order to fit in a world they didn't truly belong to. She felt the insatiable need to know about her true origins, no matter how shocking or heartbreaking it might be. At school she was taught that pharaohs, like many ancient kings, were cruel to their people and had no mercy for the weak. They had many slaves and servants they abused and a lot of concubines they slept with. In her mind, she couldn't comprehend the contradiction between the image of the tyrannical ruler she was told about and the kind man who has brought her to life and gave her love and warmth. Questions were filling her head at that time and she craved for answers.

"Mama, was dad a good king in the past ?"

"why do you ask that of all sudden ?" asked Anzu, stupefied by her daughter's curiosity.

" I mean, he had a lot of slaves and…"

Anzu was really unsure of what to say. Kanna was being really weird that day.

"It was another time, and different conditions were imposed on him. Your dad never supported slavery and always fought for peace and equality." She continued to wash the dishes as kept answering " I don't know what you are thinking but I can assure you your father is a good-hearted man who did many benefic things to this world" she finished as her voice became soothing and gentle.

She didn't really get the meaning behind Anzu's response. But, nevertheless, she still wanted to figure out who she truly was and the identity of her paternal ancestors. So, when civil war was declared in Egypt, she thought it might be the golden chance to search for the answers she longed for. She knew her parents wouldn't agree and will try to stop her. But no, she will never back down, not this time, in fact never.

"Mama, Baba… I'm going"


End file.
